The ACFR is going to Japan! Next week Oscar will be visiting the Institute of Industrial Science (IIS) at the University of Tokyo and the Tropical Biosphere Research Center at the University of the Ryukyus. The scope of the trip includes following up on an existing collaboration with Dr Blair Thornton’s Ocean Perception Laboratory at IIS that uses some of the ACFR tools to assist in mapping artificial hydrothermal vents and seafloor areas affected by the 2011 Tōhoku Tsunami. Oscar will be encouraging new collaborations with our Japanese colleagues, presenting our capabilities for coral reef mapping to interested scientists in Okinawa as well as our underwater archeological survey results to members of IIS.

This trip is part of of the project ‘Understanding Marine Habitats off Tōhoku Using Underwater Robots’ and is supported by the Commonwealth through the Australia-Japan Foundation, which is part of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.